Selected each year, from hundreds of entries and new Tech products, designed for kids, ages birth to 14 years. The esteemed international judges review and debate the best of the best across multiple categories. This year’s winners include new-comers and veterans. See the list below and go to www.kapiawards.com for photos and more information, on each product.

Best App (Younger Children) Sago Mini World, Sago Mini It took a small Canadian team of designers, many of them parents themselves, to create this safe, vibrant home for the very first tech users. The unique subscription model is commercial free, and packed with updated things to discover.

Best App (Older Children) Messenger Kids, Facebook Many have tried but few have succeeded to fulfill a family’s desire to let their young children have access to messaging. After copious research and careful attention to privacy and permission, Facebook’s powerful Messenger Kids will open a much-needed line of communication between children and parents. We applaud this type of leadership.

Best Peripheral Kidizoom Smartwatch DX2, VTech Our judges agreed: the Kidizoom 2017 smartwatch bests the competition in the kid’s wearable category. There’s no GPS for tracking, but the two cameras, color touch screen, motion/step counter and suite of games make this affordable peripheral an ideal first watch for any child. And it tells time.

Best Content Distribution WOW in the World Podcast for Kids by Tinkercast on NPR “Where doe an astronaut poop?” NPR’s Guy Raz and Mindy Thomas have the answer to this, and many other important questions in this podcast specifically designed to delight kids (and their parents).

Best AR/VR Application Merge Cube, Merge VR VR and AR apps and toys were easy to find this year. Tools like Apple’s AR kit have created an endless stream of exciting new kids’ products. Merge VR rises to the top by giving children a concrete prop that they can hold in their hands. We’ve seen kids lining up to try it out.

Best Maker Product Circuit Cubes, Tenka Labs Simplistic fun that turns a consumer into a creator right out of the box. Unlike the other maker kits that were released this year, Circuit Cubes is designed to play well with other brands of toys, from stuffed animals to Tinker Toys to LEGOs.

Most Creative Beasts of Balance, Sensible Object Jurors loved this clever balancing act (literally) between physical, stackable building parts and AR. Warning — this game can get addicting.

Award for Innovation Lenovo Star Wars Jedi Challenge, Lenovo OK, let’s admit it. We all want to have our own lightsaber. Lenovo has created a combination headset, app, beacon and light saber that comes close to pulling you right into your own battle.

Best Physical/Digital Merger LEGO Boost, LEGO Build one of five variations of a robot (or concoct your own) with this LEGOs kit, program it using a simple block-oriented language, and then enjoy your play session with your new interactive creation. This clever leveraging of the LEGO brand offers kids a seamless way to code, build and play.

Best Thing that Flies Aura Drone with Glove Controller, KD Group We love it when a toy makes feel like you have magical powers. This drone comes with a glove that turns your hand into a motion controller. There are even haptic features so you can feel the power.

Emerging Pioneer Vikas Gupta, Wonder Workshop Vikas Gupta had a perfectly lovely life as the Head of Consumer Payments at Google, but his vision of creating playmate robots that would teach kids how to code was his passion. With Dot and Dash, a robotic duo, and the new Cue, that has emotional intelligence and personality, he’s taught countless kids about the joys of coding.

Honorable Mentions go to Elfkin for creating a personal robot that includes a voice-activated messaging system that’s safe for young children and Dynepic for iOkids, a woman, and veteran owned company, creating an aggregated safe entertainment environment for kids.

What are the KAPi Awards? The 9th Annual KAPi (Kids at Play Interactive) Awards celebrates excellence in children’s media, presenting awards to some of the most deserving people and products in the kids’ tech industry. The KAPi prize identifies children’s technology products that raise the bar for innovation and excellence during the past 12 months.

Who selects the winners? Our panel of distinguished judges, representing all facets of the kids’ media business, engage in a series of conversations via phone and email to determine what the characteristics of good kids’ digital play should be and which nominated products are most deserving. http://kapiawards.com/faq-2/

Over 40 movies are slated for 2017, throughout the entire year, that will appeal to fans of these favorite characters and brands: superheroes, classic characters, favorite playthings, all with relevant new content for today’s generations of movie-goers and experience-seeking customers.

The year of 2017 is shaping up to be another substantial year for strong licenses and licensed properties, and brands with multi-generational appeal. There are a number of factors that support this premise. Character licensing is no longer relegated to the merchandising power of toys and games. Strong theatrical releases, live events and multi-tier tentpole events are driving merchandising dollars into apparel, publishing, sports, entertainment theme parks, and even more branded lifestyle categories.

For example, it was no coincidence that Pokémon Go attracted a wide swath of the population across multiple age groups. In 2017, the Pokémon brand celebrates their 20th anniversary. Kids who grew up with Pokemon are now young adults, for whom augmented reality treasure hunts were a positive pat-time for Summer 2016. Kids and parents also joined the foot traffic, as tens of millions of people across the globe hunted for the elusive Pokémon characters. Expect more Pokémon news throughout 2017, in new and exciting formats that will continue to break barriers with technology innovations. Promoting inter-generational play, active outdoor activities and the “Gotta Catch Em All “mentality will continue throughout 2017.

Key Anniversaries of Brands and Movie/TV Characters

Property

Anniversary

Property Owner

In the Night Garden

10

DHX Media

YooHoo & Friends

10

Aurora World/ Mondo TV

Yu-Gi-Oh

15

4K Media

Build A Bear

20

Build-A-Bear

Pokemon

20

The Pokemon Company

TeleTubbies

20

DHX media

Power Rangers

25

Saban

Dragon Ball Z

30

Toie Animation

Care Bears

35

American greetings

Danger Mouse

35

Fremantle

Maya the Bee

40

Studio 100

Star Wars

40

Lucas Ent/ Disney

Thunderbirds

50

ITV Studios

Toie Animation

60

Toie Animation

Mr Potato Head

65

Hasbro

Wonder Woman

75

Marvel/ Disney

Daffy Duck

80

Warner Bros Looney Tunes

Goofy animated character

85

Disney

LEGO

85

Lego

Lincoln Logs

100

Knex

Teddy Bear

115

multiple

Märklin Trains

125

Marklin

Peter Rabbit: Beatrix Potter

150

Sony / Penguin/Beatrix Potter

Other strong cross-generational brands celebrating major milestones include Star Wars 40th anniversary. Their first action figures for boys were launched in 1977, and stores couldn’t get enough merchandise to meet demand, even then. This dual target audience brand (kids and adults) will be strengthened with another new Star Wars movie, Episode VIII in late 2017, and the Rogue One movie (Holiday 2016) will continue to offer new footage and characters with epic stories in late 2016 and spilling over into 2017.

On a softer side, Care Bears will be celebrating its 35th anniversary with a Fall 2017 movie release. TeleTubbies are back, marking a 20 year anniversary with new TV episodes. Their storyline has been updated for today’s kids by updating the television screen on their tummies with touch-screens. Power Rangers continue to appeal to new fans each year, and will be celebrating 25 years of Power Rangers with their own 2017 movie launch. DragonBall Z (30th) and even Dirty Dancing (30th) will continue to tug at Millennial heart strings, with young adults and new parents remembering their childhood favorites.

With this knowledge of upcoming movies and strong anniversaries, store shelves and online channels will continue to appeal to the dual-target market audiences, and offer an inter-generational connection for the young and the young-at-heart.

Besides being fun, and incredibly engaging, tech toys and games have evolved into amazing new categories of play that offer thrills and tap into new skills for kids and adults. These new segments include robots and RC drones, electronic pets, 3D printing, virtual play, and also incorporate new technologies such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and even artificial intelligence.

The most exciting premise of these new technological toys is that they encourage kids to be active creators of their play experiences. By inspiring kids to embrace an active creator playstyle, instead of a passive consumer mindset, we are evolving kids into being vested in the process of building, making, creating and customizing their toys. This has developed a whole generation of kids that take more risks and are becoming more confident “Do-It-Yourself” kids. When kids start to ask “What if?”, then we have got them thinking. Encouraging experimentation and curiosity are important, active life skills.

Here is a review of the top new segments that are emerging, and some of the players that are leading the charge. Get excited, and get in on the fun. The best way to learn new technology is to place it into the hands of kids you know, and play right alongside them.

Electronic Pets

Spin Master: Zoomer Chimp

Wowwee: CHiP

As kids become more sophisticated and adept at technology, their toy electronic pets have also become more interactive. The CogniToy Dino, is a cloud-based WiFi Connected Toy that allows kids to engage in intelligent conversations. C.H.I.P is an electronic puppy who is trained by their owner to follow a child, to learn tricks and even to play with an object that uses beacon sense smart technology (Wow-Wee).

Spin Master has created a variety of smart technology pets in multiple play iterations. Their Meccano Meccasaur uses sensors and touch-points that are built into the creature, so that kids just need to activate the touchpoints to get reactions such as roars, speech, attack mode and other playful sounds. Hatchimals, (Spin Master) offer a new form of nurturing play, to evolve new characters that actually hatch from their inner eggshell over time, to become unique, functioning, interactive pets. Zoomer Chimp is a playful chimpanzee that uses smart technology to sense its owner and to respond to tricks and commands.

Robot Toys

Sphero: BB-8 Star Wars Droid

So many new iterations here engage kids to teach and control their robots. Coji Emoticon Robot by Wow-Wee uses emoticons as the social and emotional intelligence programming language. Dash and Dot (Wonder Workshop) teach coding to preschoolers and older kids can create more sophisticated programs, such as devising obstacle courses, or building with accessories, to create more complicated stunts and actions. OzoBot mini one-inch robots and the Sphero BB-8 robot have both encouraged character-based play with coding sequences that surprise and delight kids as users.

RC Drones

DJI: Phantom 4

From the smallest portable Pocket Drone, by Odyssey Toys that folds as flat as a credit card to the most sophisticated DJI Phantom 4K camera flying drones, there is a wide spectrum of flying RC drones to choose from. Horizon Hobby has launched their First-Person-View (FPV) drones to experience the thrill of racing, as seen through the pilot’s eyeglasses. Other key stand-out manufacturers in this segment include SilverLit, SkyRocket Toys, Revell, Carrera, and AuldeyToys.

Virtual Play

1. Augmented Reality

More companies are using augmented reality technology in ways that are more elegant and playful, for the end user. AirHogs Connect: Mission Drone Augmented Reality RC, by Spin Master incorporates drone technology, and uses an augmented reality controller as a viewing device. The built-in play pattern is all about initiating and completing missions, while actively playing, and flying your drone.

Reach Robotics MekaMon battling Robots, Anki OverDrive Racing vehicles, and WowWee R.E.V vehicles and R.E.V Air drones all encourage kids to drive their air and land vehicles, with dexterity and purpose.

R.E.V. : Robotic Enhanced Vehicles by WowWee Extended Version

2. Electronic Learning

With a continued emphasis on STEM Learning, more manufacturers are adding coding, programming and logic-building into toys and games. The Fisher-Price Think N Learn Code-A-Pillar teaches the basics of computer programming to preschoolers who add segments to a caterpillar-shaped toy. Each connectable segment represents a coded command which the caterpillar will execute in sequence, such as turning, moving forward or reverse, adding sound components and more.

Google and Mattel partnered to re-invent the ViewMaster adding new 360 degree viewing capabilities to an old classic. Mel-Science has developed Science Kits that incorporate VR viewing in the final experiment stages, to make the learning even more relevant. Zing Toys has added a Green Screen Stage to their StikBots products, to encourage kids to create and share their digital movies and scenes, via an immensely popular social media gallery website.

View-Master® Virtual Reality 360° Experience

3D Printing

3D ImagiPen

These products bring concepts to life in a very tangible way, using 3D and 4D modeling. Whether kids use a 3D printer to create their toys, or a 3D doodling pen, to build products with filaments in the air, the excitement is in building something unique in the colors and combinations of the kids choosing.